An analysis of different levels of architectural space’s cognitive effects on brain activities in distinct periods: Using neuroscience

Architectural space has many effects on human mental and physical health. From a cognitive perspective, some effects are self-conscious and visible in behavior, while some are hidden and their understanding requires meticulous analysis. The range of effects is from positive to negative. Many studies have been conducted in the field of environmental psychology, but due to the use of traditional methods, they failed to provide an answer to explain how architectural space affects the brain. Today, with the emergence of the new trend of neuroscience, the way of this effect has been clarified.

The current research was carried out with the aim of identifying the cognitive effects of architectural space on brain activities based on neuroscience and sought to clarify the different levels of short-term and long-term effects of architectural space on the brain.

The current research has achieved the purpose of the study through qualitative approach and a descriptive-analytical research method, using the review of existing sources and studies, and has specifically addressed the effects of architecture on cognition and brain activities. The study period was between January 1st. 2010 and December 22nd. 2020. The following databases were used: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts, and Humanities Citation Index, and Emerging Sources Citation Index.

The results of the research indicate that the architectural space can be categorized in three different levels in terms of the importance of the effects from simple to complex. At low level, architectural space affects metabolic settings, basic and immune responses; at middle level, it affects orientation and stress; and at high level, emotion, memory and attention are affected by architectural space.

It seems that the current research field is a step in the direction of clarifying the effects of architecture for the researchers of environmental psychological fields and opens a clear path to achieve a healthy space in this field.